


City Sidewalks, Busy Sidewalks

by contagiousrhythm211



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 09:37:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5534978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/contagiousrhythm211/pseuds/contagiousrhythm211
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Winter-themed AU oneshot! Because I actually wrote this weeks ago but just finally got around to editing it today.</p><p>Merry Christmas! :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	City Sidewalks, Busy Sidewalks

Four days until Christmas and even though the day had started out clear over New York City, the evening had gotten bitterly cold and the threat of snow was beginning to make good on its promise as snowflakes began to spiral down. Ruslan pulled his hat down further over his ears and tightened his coat against the wind as he walked down the sidewalk. He was quickly regretting his earlier decision to get out of his apartment and study for his last final at the library. He was still almost another three blocks from the subway station when he glanced up against the already steadily falling snow at the bright light of a marquee above a theater. As his gaze dropped again, he caught a glimpse of white in front of him, stopping him in the middle of the sidewalk as people continued to push passed him in both directions. As Ruslan's vision focused, the figure clearly became a young woman. Her dark curls were piled on top of her head, and the flash of white was the long gown with the low back that she was wearing. She stood out so much from all the people hurrying past in heavy coats that it was almost like she was in front of the scene rather than part of it. And she was stunning.  
  
The snow caught Elena by surprise. It had been completely clear when she had arrived at the ballet earlier that evening. The wind whipped across her face, pulling bits of her hair out of the clip secured at the back of her head. The skirt of her dress swirled around her legs and a fine layer of snow crunched beneath her shimmery, silver heels. Despite her sleeveless dress, she was barely aware of the cold, though she was aware of the tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. She didn't know what exactly her plan was, but she knew she couldn't sit in that theater another moment longer.  
  
"Miss!" She glanced up toward the street to see a young man directly in front of her, waving and standing next to an open taxi. She tilted her head slightly, blinking as snowflakes stuck to her long eyelashes. "You looked like you needed to go somewhere," he explained with a smile, gesturing to the cab. Elena glanced over her shoulder, pausing for one last second, before crossing the sidewalk as quickly as possible.  
  
"Thank you," she said, stepping passed him as he opened the door wider for her. She noticed his warm brown eyes as she slid into the backseat. He smiled sweetly, his nose bright pink from the cold. "Wait!" she called out suddenly, lifting her hand to stop the door as he started to close it. "Don't you need a ride somewhere?" she asked.  
  
"No," he stammered. The girl looking up at him expectantly was just as beautiful up close. Her dark eyes watched him fiercely, her lips forming a slight pout at his response. And he wasn't sure what made him think it, but he was sure he had seen her before. "The subway station's just around the next corner," he continued, unable to look away from her.  
  
"Well that's just silly. We can share this cab," she said, sliding across the seat and holding her small silver clutch with her other hand so that she could pat the seat she had just vacated with her hand.  
  
"Okay," he slowly responded, running out of excuses. He shrugged his backpack from his shoulders and sat down next to her, finally closing the door behind him.  
  
"You can even go home first," she offered. "I'm in no rush."  
  
Ruslan gave the driver his address and the taxi lurched out into the steady stream of traffic, everyone rushing to get home from shows and shopping before the weather got any worse.  
  
They sat in silence, broken only by the pumping of the windshield wipers against the snow and indiscriminate Christmas music on the radio. A car horn blared and Elena turned to look out the window. A shiver suddenly ran down her spine and her teeth chattered slightly as she inhaled sharply. She crossed her arms in front of her, running her hands up and down her bare skin. Ruslan turned at the same time she did, and when he saw shiver, shrugged off his coat and leaned across the seat to place it around her shoulders.  
  
"Oh," she said, surprised by his touch. "Well now you're going to be cold," she continued, reaching as though she was going to take the coat off.  
  
"I'll be fine. I'm wearing a lot more layers than you are," he assured her.  
  
"I did have a jacket but I left it inside," she paused, sliding her arms into the sleeves of the coat and holding it closed around her. "Thank you."  
  
He smiled, suddenly wishing he could remember the last time he washed that coat. He pulled off his hat, shaking his head slightly, before extending his hand. "I'm Ruslan, by the way."  
  
She looked at him a moment. "Here," she said, reaching out to fix his hair where it was standing up funny from his hat and the dry air.  
  
"Is it a mess?" he asked, his forehead wrinkling.  
  
"Not anymore," she laughed, leaning back a bit before taking his still outstretched hand. "And I'm..."  
  
"Elena," they both said at the same time. She looked mildly taken aback.  
  
"I just realized why you look so familiar," he said. "Heiress, socialite, part time model. Scandalous affair after scandalous affair."  
  
Elena leaned back into her seat, her eyes occasionally drifting toward the window beside her. "When you didn't say anything at first, I really thought maybe you didn't recognize me," she said. She hadn't realized how much she had been hoping that was the case. Hoping that this chance encounter could actually be someone who wasn't already judging her for something.  
  
"My girlfriend reads all the gossip magazines," he said. "I catch a headline here and there."  
  
"There's more than a few of those," she said mostly to herself. She fumbled for the pendant around her neck, sliding it back and forth along its chain. "So what are you doing out tonight?" she asked.  
  
"Studying," he answered, nudging his backpack with his foot. "I'm a senior at NYU."  
  
"And you're not done with the semester yet?" she asked, surprised.  
  
"Last final tomorrow afternoon," he said. "In the last possible time slot. Then I'm on the first possible flight home for the holidays, with or without my test being done."  
  
"You're not from New York?"  
  
"Close, Indiana," he said with a laugh. "Small town Indiana."  
  
"So not close at all then," she nodded. “I’ve traveled a lot, but I’ve always lived in the city.”  
  
"I knew I wanted the change in scenery when I was applying to schools. I had a proximity to home requirement. And even on the worst days - second straight week eating Ramen, killing a cockroach the size of a squirrel in my bedroom, walking five blocks to the nearest subway station in a steady downfall of snow - I wouldn't trade it. Going home occasionally does have a certain appeal though."  
  
"Well best of luck finishing your exam on time," she said with a smile. "Is it in your major?"  
  
"Nope again. It's for a psychology class I took by chance. And my major is econ."  
  
"Interesting mix," she said, raising her eyebrows. "And what are you planning to do with this major in econ?"  
  
"Are you preparing me to field questions from everyone about school this weekend?" he asked, laughing.  
  
"No," she laughed as well, leaning across the middle seat and letting her hand rest in his arm. She looked up at him through her eyelashes. The coat she had been holding so tight around her had fallen open, but she realized she already wasn't feeling as cold as she had been. "Is your girlfriend going home with you for Christmas?" she asked, straightening in her seat again.  
  
"Actually she doesn't live here. We started dating back in high school," he started. "And actually she's my ex-girlfriend."  
  
"Is that recent or do you just like pretty girls thinking you are unavailable?" she asked with a half smile.  
  
He turned to look at her. "Three days ago," he answered slowly.  
  
"Oh! I'm sorry. And right before Christmas."  
  
"Yeah, I thought she was calling to talk about what we were going to do while I was home. But she was really calling to tell me that she was seeing someone." Elena gave him a sympathetic look. "She admits it's been going on the past few weeks, but I think it's been longer."  
  
"Any chance you won't see her?"  
  
"No. Small, small town," he said, dryly.  
  
"Well, for what it's worth and only knowing you for thirty minutes, I'd say it's her loss. And now you can tell everyone about this taxi ride."  
  
"Like anyone would believe this really happened!" he laughed. "But appreciated though."  
  
Elena smiled and glanced out the window again. They were past most of the traffic now. She watched the apartment buildings as they passed, twinkling lights and decorations in most of the windows.  
  
"That’s a nice necklace," he said, gesturing to the chain she was fumbling with again. “From someone special?”

“From one of my scandalous affairs, you mean?” she asked, eyebrows raised.  
  
Ruslan felt heat rush to his cheeks. "I shouldn't have said that," he said, closing his eyes.  
  
"You're fine," she smiled. "And it’s from my mom. Earrings are from my boyfriend. My stupid boyfriend.” She rubbed her arms again, even though she wasn’t feeling cold anymore.

“Is he related to the whole standing in the middle of the sidewalk in a snowstorm thing?”  
  
"Yeah, he is. He’s supposed to be good. Well connected, rich, handsome. But there have been cheating rumors since we started dating. But I chose to believe him that it wasn’t true. Until tonight. We went to the show and during intermission I went to the restroom and on my way back I saw him in the corner of the lobby with his hand glued to some other girl's ass. So I just kept walking out the door and that where you come in. I didn't really have any plan except wait for him to come looking for me." She paused a moment. "I'm glad you were there first."  
  
Elena reached up to loosen her hairclip, uncoiling her hair and letting her curls fall across her shoulders. She leaned her head back against the seat as she slipped the hair clip into her clutch, sighing to herself.  
  
Ruslan looked at her, running his hands through his hair. "So, tell me about you. What do you do? Like on a daily basis?"  
  
"Meetings, photoshoots, events. I'm taking some classes online but I haven't had the time to take more than one or two at a time."  
  
Ruslan nodded, desperately trying to come up with another question when Elena suddenly spoke very loudly. "I want to organize a charity!" She looked at him a moment. "A charity, for animals," she added more quietly.  
  
"That's very nice," he said sincerely.  
  
"I don't think I've ever said that out loud," she admitted.  
  
"Maybe that's why you kind of yelled it," he laughed.  
  
She laughed. "Maybe. It's just I've been worried no one would take me seriously. Ice gotten used to the polite smiles and nods and being told that whatever I want would require more hard work than I would be capable of putting into it."  
  
"Well only knowing you for thirty minutes, I think someone would have to be crazy to underestimate you."  
  
"Appreciated," she said, letting her hand rest on his knee.  
  
Ruslan looked down at her hand before glancing up to look at Elena, but she was distracted by something outside again. He smiled to himself, covering her hand with his. She turned her hand over beneath his so that their palms were touching. She slowly moved her fingers to fit them into the spaces between his as she turned to look at him again. Her eyes were even darker in the dim light of the cab, and he could barely make out the small sprinkling of freckles across just the bridge of her nose. Her gaze dropped briefly to his lips before moving back to his eyes. She liked the way he looked at her.  
  
Just then her stomach growled loudly. "Oh," she exclaimed pulling her hand back and pressing it against her middle.  
  
"Hungry?" he asked with a laugh.  
  
"Apparently," she answered laughing. "I didn't eat much earlier. This dress is not very forgiving."  
  
He paused a moment before asking, "Would you want to get something to eat now? We're close to my apartment so there's a burger place on the next corner. They're open late so popular for food after parties, but I'm guessing they'll be pretty slow tonight."  
  
"Sure! Let's do it." She turned to the driver. "You can actually just drop us up here. Next corner you said, right?"  
  
"Yeah, this is good," he answered as the car pulled up to the sidewalk. Elena was already paying the fare before he had a chance to offer, so he carefully opened his door and stepped into the street pulling his hat back on as he rounded the back of the car to open her door for her.  
  
"Thank you," she said with a smile, taking his arm with one hand and holding up the long skirt of her dress with the other. Her heels sliced through the slushy snow on the street as she finally managed to step up onto the sidewalk. The snowflakes falling now we're much smaller than they had been earlier, but were still coming down just as hard.  
  
Ruslan guided her toward the door, where she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window. She'd forgotten how ridiculous she looked with a large winter coat over her dress, the edge of which she could see was already stained with dirt from the road despite her best efforts. Her hair whipped wildly around her face and she noticed a bit of makeup smeared across her cheek.  
  
"You coming?" She looked up to see him holding the door for her, his shoulders hunched up to his ears against the cold. She smiled and caught up, taking hold of his arm again as she stepped inside, thankful for the warmth and thankful for the company.


End file.
